[@TheUnknowable]
The reason I pick New York is I think it could make an interesting place for a nuclear fallout, with the big city and plenty of places to hide, for raiders and waste landers alike. Plus the fact that like you said it's small. Although I'm planning the RP to be pretty open world and slice of life where each person has their part and story, I would still like there to be interaction with eachothers characters, and picking a smaller city allows that to be easier while not taking away from what people what their characters to be or where they want them to live. 
And yeah, I was planning on making the Statue of Liberty like a Rivit city type of City.